training for the Clemson triathlon

My next big event is the Clemson triathlon in May. I am particularly looking forward to it because it was my first race last year, and so I will be able to see very directly how much I have improved. I've been working more on speed recently, so I did the Clemson triathlon course as a bike test. I did the 10.75 miles in 43:20. In the triathlon last year my bike time was 47:38, but that included the transition from swim to bike. Take off around 3 minutes for transition and my improvement is only a minute or so. On the run I'm significantly faster in a race than even my fastest training times; I don't know if that is as true on the bike. My dream goal for the Clemson triathlon is a 20% improvement in my time; my realistic goal is a 10% improvement. I think I've got some work to do on the bike.

My mother was here this past weekend because my daughter was a finalist in a two-page script playwriting competition. My daughter took second in the 15 and under age group (she is not quite 13). My mother left this morning, but I feel like I missed spring break.